Sharing with you things that are on my mind...Maybe yours too. Come back to Wrights Lane for a visit anytime!

13 September, 2011

THE INTERESTING STORY OF THOMAS MOORE AND HIS LAST ROSE OF SUMMER MELODY

Two-hundred-year-old books from my grandmother's collection.

When I wasn't preparing meals last week, taking care of household chores, catering to the increasing needs of Rosanne, catching up on outside yard work, purchasing a new car in Owen Sound, making a dozen-and-one trips to grocery and drug stores, taking Lucy out for walks, writing a few posts on Wrights Lane, adding my two cents to Dresden Virtual History Group discussions and daily late morning siestas that have become an essential to surviving the balance of the day (I would "get a life" if I wasn't so occupied with the current one), I managed to do some pretty extensive and long over-due research.

The research involved a tiny 180-year-old, palm-sized book from a collection originally belonging to my grandmother, Louise Wright (1862-1932). The collection consists primarily of spiritual publications of Anglican (Church of England) persuasion printed in Ireland in the early 1800s, but "Irish Melodies and Other Poems" by Thomas Moore, ESQ. in particular has haunted me over the years, to the point where I finally decided to learn as much as possible about the author.

I was first surprised to learn that the year 2008 marked the 200th anniversary of the publication of Moore's collection of songs -- 124 poems set to traditional Irish tunes published in 10 volumes between 1808 and 1834. Moore is today considered Ireland's "National Bard" and is to Ireland what Robert Burns is to Scotland. How the work of a staunch IrishCatholic found its way into a collection of antique Church of England books is beyond me, but all the more interesting and intriguing.

From a relatively early age Moore showed an interest in music and other performing arts. He sometimes appeared in plays with his friends, such as The Poor Soldier by John O'Keeffe, and at one stage had ambitions to become an actor. Moore attended several Dublin schools including Samuel Whyte's English Grammar School on Grafton Street where he learned the English accent with which he spoke for the rest of his life. From 1795 he was educated at Trinity College, which had recently allowed entry to Catholic students, in an effort to fulfil his mother's dream of his becoming a lawyer.

It was as a poet, translator, balladeer and singer that he found fame, however. His work soon became immensely popular and included The Harp That Once Through Tara’s Halls, Believe Me, if All Those Endearing Young Charms, The Meeting of the Waters and many others. His ballads were published as Moore's Irish Melodies (commonly called Moore's Melodies) in 1846 and 1852. While Thomas Moore was completing his many works he met a girl with the name of Lena Angese who encouraged him with his works. She also helped him with his future compositions and they became very close. Although she was said to have fallen in love with him she suddenly appeared missing and was later found dead.

In 1803 he was appointed registrar to the Admiralty in Bermuda. He spent about three months on the island, but he found his work very light and uninspiring. There were several other prize courts nearby and very few captured ships were brought to Bermuda leaving him little to do. Although he drew inspiration from the scenery of Bermuda he found its society limited and soon departed for Norfolk.Because of his brief stay there he has sometimes been treated as an unofficial poet laureate of Bermuda.

From Norfolk he travelled across the United States and Canada in a Grand Tour. During this visit Moore developed a deeply critical view of the United States. He particularly disliked the governing Democratic-Republican Party and the President Thomas Jefferson. While in Washington he stayed with the British Ambassador there and met Jefferson briefly. He then travelled through various American towns and cities, enjoying his time most in Philadelphia where he already had an established reputation. He then travelled northwards to British-controlled Canada, stopping at the Niagara Falls. He sailed back to Britain from Nova Scotia aboard a Royal Navy ship arriving home in November 1804.

Thomas Moore
from a painting

It was after this trip that he published his book, Epistles, Odes, and Other Poems, which featured a paean to the historic Cohoes Falls called Lines Written at the Cohos [sic], or Falls of the Mohawk River, among other famous verses. A repeated theme in his writing on the United States were his observations of the institution of slavery. Moore's mocking criticisms of the United States provoked outrage in America and led to a number of rebuttals. In Britain, a critical review of the work led to the overly sensitive and firey Moore challenging Francis Jeffrey, an editor, to a duel. They met at Chalk Farm but the duel was interrupted by the arrival of the authorities and they were arrested. Reports that Moore's opponent had been given an empty pistol, continued to dog Moore and led to persistent mockery of him.

Lord Byron derisively referred to Moore's "leadless pistol" and wrote "on examination, the balls of the pistols, like the courage of the combatants, were found to have evaporated". Moore was angered by this and sent a letter to Byron that hinted that unless the remarks were clarified Moore was prepared to fight Byron. However, Byron had left Britain to travel abroad and the letter did not reach him. When the two men eventually met each other the dispute was settled and they soon became very close friends.

Moore married an actress, Elizabeth "Bessy" Dyke, in 1811. She was the daughter of an East India Company official, but was raised with her three sisters by her mother. Moore did not initially tell his parents of his marriage, possibly because his wife was an English Protestant, but more probably because his marriage to a woman without a dowry would not help his financial prospects. Moore had expensive tastes, and, despite the large sums he was earning from his writing, he soon found himself in debt. He and Bessy stayed together, however, and raised five children, all of whom predeceased their father.

Around the time of the Reform Act he was invited to stand for parliament, and considered it, but nothing came of it. In 1829 he was painted by Thomas Lawrence, one of the last works completed by the artist before his death (see painting above). In 1830 he sang in front of the future Queen Victoria in a duet with her mother, and later composed a song Sovereign Woman in her honour.
Moore was for many years a strong advocate for Catholic Emancipation which he regarded as the source of all problems in Ireland and the sole reason behind the 1798 Rebellion - a point he made in his 1831 biography Life and Death of Lord Edward Fitzgerald.

The victim of a stroke some time earlier, Moore died in the care of his loyal wife on the 26th of February, 1852.

In the early years of his career, Moore's work was largely generic and had he died at this point he would likely not have been considered an Irish poet. From 1806-1807 Moore dramatically changed his style of writing and focus. Following a request by a publisher he wrote lyrics to his series of Irish tunes, in collaboration with John Stevenson. He became best known for these enormously popular "Irish Melodies" including songs such as The Minstrel Boy, The Last Rose of Summer and Oft in the Stilly Night.

The Last Rose of Summer is of particular significance to me because it was an expression often used by my mother and consequently by me to this day, i.e. "I absolutely feel like the last rose of summer" or "He/she looks like the last rose of summer". Little did I know up to a few days ago that the expression we have used all these years actually originated with Thomas Moore.

"The Last Rose Of Summer": The lyrics'Tis the last rose of summer left blooming aloneAll her lovely companions are faded and goneNo flower of her kindred, no rosebud is nighTo reflect back her blushes and give sigh for sighI'll not leave thee, thou lone one, to pine on the stemSince the lovely are sleeping, go sleep thou with themThus kindly I scatter thy leaves o'er the bedWhere thy mates of the garden lie scentless and deadSo soon may I follow when friendships decayAnd from love's shining circle the gems drop awayWhen true hearts lie withered and fond ones are flownOh who would inhabit this bleak world alone?This bleak world alone

I have created a link (below) to a wonderful piano rendition of "The Last Rose of Summer". It is a fitting conclusion to this post and helps one feel a little closer to a most unusual man with an undeniable gift of music. It cost me some sleep, but I am glad I did the research.

NOTE: Other books in my inherited collection include A Church of England Prayer Book, Daily Steps Towards Heaven, Solomon's Temple Spiritualized by John Bunyan, The History of Joseph and The Lord's Supper by Rt. Rev. Thomas Wilson. Don't worry, I do not intend to write about them on Wrights Lane!

THANKS FOR VISITING:

THE SOURCE

A new blog "INSPIRATION FROM THE WORD OF GOD: Sermons Selected For Your Viewing" has been added to my Wrights Lane feature blog roster. The site highlights a collection of sermons delivered by me when serving as a lay minister a few years ago.*Just click on the bible to view the introductory blog https://fromthepulpitbydick.blogspot.ca

A PREFACE TO WRIGHTS LANE

A lot of what I write on this site borders on the philosophical. To say anything strictly new would be impossible; nor would I presume that my knowledge, ideas and experience would be as valuable as the maxims of the wise and sublime truths which have become a part of the standard thinking and writing. The best, therefore, that anyone can expect to do is to re-introduce the experience of the past, and compile such personal thoughts and extracts as have harmonized with the testimony of earnest and aspiring minds, and present them in a fresh, novel context that hopefully offers some inspiration. In the words of the poet:

FROM THE MEMORY BANK...*click on the links below to view.

RECOGNITION APPRECIATED

Dick receiving award from London Sports Oldtimers Association chairman Bill Slater in recognition of contribution to baseball as a player, coach, manager, umpire and newspaper editor.

A NEW BLOG...

We're seven generation Canadians

...THE WRIGHT STORY

NEWS FLASH!!! INTRODUCING A NEW BLOG SITE: You won't find much in Canadian history books about Britain's transportation of convicts to the New World in the 1700s. In fact, Americans in particular, have rather romantic ideas about how their country was founded.

We’ve long been fond of the mythology surrounding persecuted people freely traveling to the New World and building the greatest country on Earth. But, like all history, it’s much, much messier than that. Our history includes plenty of genocide, slavery, and just a dash of prison folk — and the latter may be news to many reading this post.

Honestly, I didn't think much about that part of history either until a couple of weeks ago when, much to my surprise and temporary chagrin, while doing some family genealogical research, I discovered that my great-great-great grandfather Henry Wright was in fact, one of the "convicts" transported to America in 1763. The sad part of the story is that he was only 13 years of age -- a mere adolescent still in puberty. The subsequent story that unfolded for me is indeed a remarkable one. To share in "The Wright Story" click https://mywrightstory.blogspot.ca.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED ABOUT INTEGRITY...ALMOST TOO LATE

...When what you do, say, think, and feel is consistent with your conscience. When you live in Integrity, your whole world is an honest reflection of who you are. And that is what creates the trust that other people have in you.

Thanks for following me on Google+!

MORE THAN 800,000 VIEWERS

It was recently determined that Wrights Lane and its 29 companion blog sites have attracted in excess of 800,000 viewers since inception in 2008. The tally is representative of more than 900 individual posts.

INTRODUCING NEWEST BLOG SITES

DRESDEN: A PERSPECTIVE ON RACIAL DISCRIMINATION IN MY HOME TOWN.Read about Anglo-Saxon elitism, the Dawn Settlement, The Underground Railway, Uncle Tom's Cabin and my personal musings on an extremely touchy subject. http://dicktheblogsterremembers.blogspot.ca/

THE AMAZING JIM LONDON STORY: Bad boy high school dropout left home to re-invent himself and become an accomplished PhD. Academic, teacher, athlete, politician, traveler, humanitarian, family man -- he did it all...and more.

BASEBALL: "The game That I Grew Up With".Taking a nostalgic look at the game we oldtimers played as kids back in the 1940s. I think that it will bring back a lot of memories, especially for some of the chums who experienced those wonder years along with me in good old Dresden, Ontario. You don't have to be a baseball lover to enjoy it however.

HEEEEEERRRE'S JOHN!!!

CLICK LINK BELOW TO VIEW PAGE.

HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS...

...COME ON IN!

WRIGHTS LANE SIGN HAS SPECIAL MEANING FOR OTHERS TOO

Sometimes it is the small things in life that do your heart the most good.

I was working in my front terrace the other evening when two women riding bicycles passed by. We exchanged "hi's". It was one of those lazy, hazy summer nights when people were out and about for casual strolls and exchanging friendly greetings and nods with others they met along the way...It's a small town thing!

Continuing up the street for a short distance, I noticed the cyclists do an abrupt U-turn and head back in my direction. Stopping curbside, one of the women said: "Pardon me, but I have to tell you about your Wrights Lane sign". I thought for a brief second that she was going to make a negative comment about it.

Much to my surprise, however, she went on to explain that she was originally from Burlington and that she had coincidentally lived in a home on a Wrights Lane there. "When my parents retired, they moved to Southampton and I used to visit them. The first time that I drove past your house and saw your Wrights Lane sign, I couldn't believe the warm feeling that it gave me," she explained.

"Both parents are gone now of course and I have since moved here myself. Every time I see your sign it reminds me of my childhood home and assures me that I am now in the right place. I just thought that you should know..." she added.

I thanked her for sharing her story with me and in turn explained to her the history of Wrights Lane in my hometown of Dresden and how I have adopted it not only for my home in Southampton but for one of my web sites and a book that I published some time ago.

Admittedly, not an earth-shattering story, but one that holds special gratification for me.

I had been procrastinating on giving the sign a spruce up this summer, but I will need to get busy now...I have to do it for that lady from Burlington, if for no other reason.

EBOOKS NOW AVAILABLE ON-LINE

My two recently published books, "Wrights Lane...Come On In" and "Dresden Life Remembered" are now available in ebook form from Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.

HOW WE LIVED IT...

*A TRIBUTE TO MY LATE WIFE ANNE: GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

I BELIEVE...

...It is not possible for anyone to understand what their civilization is (and therefore who they are) without an understanding of their roots. Just think about it. All our laws, our morals, our mores, are predicated largely on a Judeo-Christian tradition. The standards and attitudes of our society have been profoundly influenced by the person and the life of Jesus, the Christ. Regardless of our attitude toward religion, a knowledge of what this young man from Nazareth said and did is enormously enriching. You can read all about Him in a book found on the dusty shelves of any library near you.

...but you can't take the town out of the boy! .. The following is a story I wish I had remembered to include in my book, Dresden Life...

Ad for my book "Wrights Lane...Come On In" as it appeared in the publishers' Annual 2010 Book Catalog printed for the American Library Association Conference in Washington, D.C., June 24-28. Thousands of book buyers, librarians and agents attend the conference each year. Hopefully a few of them bought my book.

...THAT'S THE WAY I SEE IT

"The next thing most like living one's life over again seems to be a recollection of that life, and to make that recollection as durable as possible by putting it in writing." -- Benjamin Franklin-------------------------------

SITES I FOLLOW

The motivation

I firmly believe that if I have felt, experienced or questioned something in life, then surely others must have too. That's what this blog is all about -- hopefully relating in some meaningful way -- sharing, if you will, on subjects of an inspirational and human interest nature. Nostalgia will frequently find its way into some of the items. A work in progress, to be sure.